Incisive Papilla - Livin' the Good Life

May. 6th, 2015

03:15 pm - Incisive Papilla

First, the backstory: two years ago, almost exactly, Steve had a hip replacement. During his procedure, a painful bump appeared on the palate of my mouth, right behind my two front teeth. It hurt when I chewed, because my lower teeth hit the lump when I closed my teeth together (I have an overbite). I don't know if it was a reaction to stress, because I WAS nervous about Steve's operation, or whether it was a coincidence. (I don't really believe in coincidences.) But, that lump stayed. I still have it today, and most of the time it seems benign enough. Slightly sensitve all the time, but something I can live with.

I did have it looked at by two dentists. The first one was unconcerned. The second, when I complained about it hurting, made me a mouth guard to wear at night to keep me from grinding on the bump and irritating it worse. Both of them said that everyone has a bump there. Mine is just enlarged a bit, and because of my overbite, it gets chomped on.

Two weeks ago, the bump swelled up to twice it's normal size and became inflamed. So did my gums. I could not put my teeth together without extreme pain for 5 days. I went to the Urgent Care (my doc couldn't see me for a week), and they sent a referal to my doc for me to see an oral surgeon. I went to the doc, and he said I didn't need to see an oral surgeon, but I should see an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doc). So he sent out to our insurance for a referal. Meantime, my bump was really worrying me, and though I could eat stuff like yogurt, I was very limited in my diet for about two weeks. I finally went back to my dentist, since I'd heard nothing from my doc about getting me an ENT appointment, and the dentist said, "You need an oral surgeon. Here's a referal to Dr. Tiner in Yucca Valley." I went right over and got an appointment. (That was a week ago.)

In the meantime, I researched pain control and found clove oil. Also, oregano oil. I have been putting one drop of oil (tried both) mixed with coconut oil to dilute, right on the bump, also swishing my mouth with a spoonful of coconut oil and two drops of the essential oil off and on during the day. I wore my mouthguard slathered with coconut oil at night. The bump began to recede to its former size and color. I can eat without a problem now.

Today: I went to the oral surgeon, who I really liked, by the way, and he said: "That is an Incisive Papilla. (In lay terms, a bump that is hit by my bottom teeth.) He said he hasn't seen one in years. I asked if he could remove it, but he was reluctant. He said that it may very well grow back. And the recovery time for this type of thing would be 2-3 weeks and would be painful. "Since it's not hurting you now, let's have you come back in two weeks and we'll take another look." (If it swells up again though, I should come right in.) That sounded conservative and reasonable to me, so I went with that. I liked that guy. He was definitely not out for my business. He was cautious, as I am. I think we're a good fit. Until then, I will continue my home care and see what happens.

Comments:

Hurray! You got a diagnosis! I think it's good you wrote all this down so you can refer back to it if the problem gets really bad again. So many times I've found solutions but then I forget later what they were. I like a conservative doctor also. They are the only kind I like. So was this dr older? They usually know more, plus they are generally less apt to hold back with their opinions. GH